1. Field of the Invention
This invention is generally directed to hopples used for training and controlling a horse's gait and more particularly to a hopple for developing the diagonal gait of a trotting horse. With the hopples of the present invention, the diagonal front and rear legs of the horse are fettered so that the connected legs are somewhat constrained and the only comfortable gait for the horse is a trot. The hopples also provide motion transfer mechanisms or assemblies which enable the constraint in the horse's gait to be directed in a linear manner with respect to the normal motion of the horse's legs and thereby prevents potentially damaging lateral forces or stresses from being exerted on the horse's legs.
2. History of the Related Art
It has heretobefore been known to use hopples to regulate the gait of race horses. The original hopples were conceived to regulate the gait of pacing horses by providing straps or other structures which would tie the front and rear legs on the same side of the horse so that the legs would move in unison. Although there have been numerous designs and structures created for use in training and racing pacing horses, each of the hopples generally includes similar operative structure. The basic pacing hopple includes two pairs of front and rear loops which are of a size to encircle the upper portion of the legs of a horse and which are connected by an adjustable belt or other strap-like component. The loops and straps are suspended from the horse by harness or hanger members which are disposed over the horse's fore and hind sections adjacent the loops. The two pairs of front and rear hopple loops are therefore mounted in generally parallel relationship with the forward loop encircling one forward leg and the rear loop encircling the rear leg on the same side of the horse. In order to adjust the hopple to the stride or stroke of the gait of the horse, the tie between the loops may be shortened or lengthened or the loops may be vertically adjusted by altering the position or length of the hanging straps with the linear motion of the hopple loops becoming less and less as the hopple is raised relative to the horse's legs.
Prior art pacing hopples not only serve to regulate the gait of a horse so that the front and rear legs on one side move simultaneously but they also restrict the horse's gait from developing into a gallop as the horse's legs are not free and are impeded from developing such a gait. On the other hand, the hopple loops are generally constructed so as to provide sufficient slack so that the horse may walk at a slow rate in a fairly conventional manner. Due to the success of pacing hopples, such hopples are currently used throughout the racing industry both as a training aid and as a racing implement.
Some examples of prior art pacing hopples are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 497,326 to Kitterman, 741,023 to Filbey, 1,212,023 to Curley, 1,455,341 to Kopf, 2,500,079 to Jackson, 2,697,902 to Empie, 2,761,266 to Hobkirk, 3,174,261 to Calderhead, 3,824,764 to Roberts and 4,389,835 to Kavalieros.
Although hopples for use with pacing horses have achieved an overwhelming level of acceptance both in the training and racing industry, the same cannot be said of hopples for use in training and racing trotting horses. The gait of a trotting horse differs from that of a pacing horse in that the diagonal front and rear legs of the horse are to move in unison as opposed to the same side front and rear legs moving in unison in a pacing gait. Prior attempts to simply bind the diagonal legs of the horse together utilizing adjustable straps have not proven to be successful because the diagonal straps tend to rotate the hopple loops to the same diagonal angle which interferes with the gait of the horse. Also, the diagonal straps crossing each other while in rapid motion cause considerable friction which impedes the horse and the legs are bound so that stresses are created diagonally with respect to the normal gait of the horse. That is, by diagonally securing the legs together, stresses and forces are created laterally with respect to the normal front and rear motion of the legs. Such stresses not only tend to take the horse out of a proper gait but can be extremely unsafe and potentially damaging to a horse.
An example of one type of prior art trotting hopple is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,814,923 to Knauss. This hopple utilizes a system having a front and rear pulley around which ropes or straps pass to a pair of front and a pair of rear hopple loops which are positioned about the front and rear legs of the horse. The entire assembly is strapped to the horse so as to be suspended from the belly. With this structure, the two front legs are tied so that when one front leg moves forward, the opposing front leg must be moved rearwardly as the connecting strap or rope moves relative to the forward pulley. In a like manner, the rear legs are connected together utilizing a strap member passing around the rear pulley so that when one rear leg moves forwardly or rearwardly with respect to the opposing leg, the opposing leg must move in the opposite direction. With this structure, the same lateral stress is created with respect to the horse's legs as if the straps were connected diagonally across the horse. Therefore, the pull with respect to the horse's legs is toward the center point of the pulleys and is not in line with the normal forward and rearward motion of the horse's gait. Therefore, with this type of hopple, stresses are created which may be potentially dangerous to the horse as the hopple loops are connected so as to control the motion of the legs by exerting restrictive forces that are directed laterally with respect to the forward and rear motion of the legs. In addition, this pulley hopple configuration in no manner restricts the horse from either pacing or trotting. Either can be accomplished with ease. It does inhibit the horse from assuming the galloping gait.
In view of the foregoing, prior to the present invention, there has not been a successful trotting hopple utilized which has become acceptable for training and racing purposes.